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What am I reading? Frameworks on Climate, Health, and Aging

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Written by Jenna Tipaldo, CUNY School of Public Health and CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, jenna.tipaldo09@sphmail.cuny.edu

Frameworks, tools that can be used to inform research and develop interventions, can help conceptualize scientific problems and visualize complex relationships between factors that influence health. In the past several years, several new frameworks have been developed regarding the interactions between environmental factors such as climate change and health, paying special attention to the impacts on an aging population. Malecki et al. (2022) and Tipaldo, Balk & Hunter (2024) present more general frameworks regarding how environmental, social, and biological factors interact to influence the health of aging populations focusing on disease and adverse health outcomes, while Prina et al. (2024) also present a general framework based on these factors but expanding on a prior framework of healthy aging. Zuelsdorff & Limaye (2024) focus on how similar factors more specifically impact the risk and health burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD).  

The frameworks developed in Zuelsdorff & Limaye (2024) and Tipaldo, Balk, and Hunter (2024) illustrate potential moderating and mediating factors on the pathways from climate-sensitive exposures to health outcomes, with the former honing in on ADRD and the latter considering various conditions and outcomes. Similarly, yet from a different perspective, Prina et al. (2024) consider the many factors and interactions of said factors that contribute to healthy aging, emphasizing positive outcomes for aging individuals facing climate hazards. Taking a different approach, Malecki et al. (2022) build their framework on a traditional toxicological dose-response model to show the development of disease and expand it to show factors that influence vulnerability at different stages. For example, environmental and social factors are theorized to influence hazard and exposure levels while individual-level biological and social factors influence biologically effective dose and effects.  

Interactions and intersections between the various social and environmental factors are explicitly shown in the frameworks of both Zuelsdorff & Limaye (2024) and Tipaldo, Balk, and Hunter (2024), and are also discussed by Malecki et al. (2022). Notably, Zuelsdorff & Limaye (2024) also show policy responses such as adaptation and mitigation in the form of a feedback loop from the built environment to impact climate change, which in turn impacts factors of the built and social environments, interpersonal and individual processes, and biomedical factors. 

While emphasizing the need to better understand mechanisms, these four recent framework papers identify myriad research gaps and directions for future research. Tipaldo, Balk, and Hunter (2024) detail recommended next steps for data collection efforts such as a need for longitudinal studies and studies that investigate cumulative impacts and factors across the life course. This suggestion is echoed by both Prina et al. (2024) and Malecki et al. (2022), which also note how big “–omics” data can be harnessed to enhance understanding. With a scope limited to the U.S., Malecki et al. (2022) call for more holistic research in various populations, and both Prina et al. (2024) and Tipaldo, Balk, and Hunter (2024) extend this by citing a need for more research in low-and-middle income and Global South settings. Together, these papers suggest a need for collaborative research across disciplines and regions to address the complex and pressing challenges faced by older adults due to climate hazards. This speaks to the goals of the 2022 NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative and Strategic Framework, which calls for the development of transdisciplinary efforts at the climate-health intersection (Woychik et al., 2022). 

Importantly, all of these framework papers on climate/environment and aging-related health emphasize the need for research to help inform action. Prina et al. (2024) summarizes from a review of the literature potential strategies for mitigation and adaptation. Zuelsdorff & Limaye (2024) and Malecki et al. (2022) highlight a need to translate research findings into policy and actionable interventions for both practitioners and community members. Tipaldo, Balk, and Hunter (2024) note that systematic studies can help inform effective intervention strategies, building on the need for systematic studies on various climate hazards that is noted by the other framework papers. 

References 

  • Malecki KMC, Andersen JK, Geller AM, et al. Integrating Environment and Aging Research: Opportunities for Synergy and Acceleration. Front Aging Neurosci. 2022;14:824921. doi:10.3389/fnagi.2022.824921 
  • Prina M, Khan N, Akhter Khan S, et al. Climate change and healthy ageing: An assessment of the impact of climate hazards on older people. J Glob Health. 2024;14:04101. doi:10.7189/jogh.14.04101 
  • Tipaldo JF, Balk D, Hunter LM. A framework for ageing and health vulnerabilities in a changing climate. Nat Clim Chang. 2024;14(11):1125-1135. doi:10.1038/s41558-024-02156-2 
  • Woychik RP, Bianchi DW, Gibbons GH, et al. The NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative and Strategic Framework: addressing the threat of climate change to health. The Lancet. 2022;400(10366):1831-1833. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02163-8 
  • Zuelsdorff M, Limaye VS. A Framework for Assessing the Effects of Climate Change on Dementia Risk and Burden. Gaugler JE, ed. The Gerontologist. 2024;64(3):gnad082. doi:10.1093/geront/gnad082